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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233474">For our love is true love, an eternal love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront'>shopfront</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mummy (1999)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Everybody Lives, F/M, Happy Ending, Resurrection</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:34:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Meela finds her way to Imhotep's side sooner, and everything is changed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Anck Su Namun/Imhotep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fandom Giftbox 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>For our love is true love, an eternal love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfRampant/gifts">WolfRampant</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Thank you to havocthecat, who helped me shape this into something much better than it would have been with just my vision alone.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After being chased through the streets by Imhotep’s followers, Evy’s heartbeat was still thumping in her ears. It was almost loud enough to drown out Imhotep’s words - almost, except that she had a sinking feeling about where Imhotep’s declaration was likely to lead which could not be ignored.</p><p>“Come with me, my princess. It is time to make you mine, forever,” Benny translated, repeating the dreaded words that Evy already understood and had no wish to hear echoed a second time.</p><p>“For all eternity, idiot,” Evy said, correcting him scathingly.</p><p>Imhotep just continued to smile that eery, unchanging smile, as he opened his mouth to continue, until he was cut off by a female voice calling out to him. Her voice was sharp as a bell and commanding, and the crowd of Imhotep’s mindless followers bristled restlessly in response as they turned towards her. Some began to mutter his name again and shake their weapons, but Imhotep raised a hand to command them to still and reluctantly they stepped back to allow her to pass.</p><p>Evy watched as the woman came walking towards them through their midst, moving gracefully in her long black dress. She spoke in Egyptian as she approached and her gaze was fixed unerringly on Imhotep. Taken aback by her appearance, Evy was filled with morbid curiosity as the woman smiled at him. Her face was brightened by it and her expression was triumphant, perhaps even fond; Evy could scarcely conceive of why.</p><p>“I have been searching for you for a long time, my love,” Benny translated for the woman in a whisper, seemingly automatically as he stared at the woman just like everybody else.</p><p>“Anck-su-namun,” Imhotep said reverently.</p><p>Evy gaped as Imhotep turned his back on them, dismissing them entirely. “What in the-“</p><p>“I thought that was you?” Rick asked.</p><p>Evy laughed, short and abrupt. “So did I,” she answered honestly, reeling from the implications as she searched her mind desperately for anything else she knew about the lost princess. It couldn’t possibly be the true Anck-su-namun… could it? She looked entirely human, and Imhotep’s followers didn’t cower or scatter before her.</p><p>Already sweeping back across the courtyard to meet the woman, Imhotep was definitely payingthem no more heed. He had eyes only for the newcomer. She reached for him as he approached, and he took hold of her hands gently as he smiled down at her. His gaze was equally as fond, but Evy thought she could see something possessive in his stance that mirrored the triumph on the woman’s face as he pulled her close.</p><p>“Er, should we just…?” Rick asked quietly, interrupting Evy’s observations as he jerked his head to the side, towards a small and now unmanned gap in the buildings.</p><p>The others nodded and quickly, quietly, they began to sneak away while everyone was distracted. Behind them, Imhotep and the woman embraced as the crowd began to form a ring around them and took up their ‘Imhotep’ chant with increasing fervour once more.</p><p>“You are not yet whole. We will raise your soul from the Underworld, and we will be together again,” Evy heard Imhotep declare as he caressed the woman’s hair and pulled her into a deep kiss, but the others dragged her onward before she could hear more.</p><p>They only glanced back again when they heard the crowd’s chanting suddenly turn into shrieks. Turning, they saw Imhotep rising up into the sky with the woman cradled against him with one arm and the other raised toward the heavens. As they watched, he transformed into a whirling tornado of sand; then they were both gone, the whirlwind moving swiftly across the city and out towards the desert to disappear into the night.</p><p>“We have to find that book,” Evy said with conviction, while the others groaned. “It seems that he’s found who he was searching for - which means there’s nothing stopping him from ending the world. We absolutely <em>must</em> beat them to Hamunaptra.”</p><p>*</p><p>The shallow dish of water on the floor beside the alter shimmered one last time as the image in it faded away. Glancing up to find herself in the same place where Imhotep had been overcome and locked into his endless torment, Anck-su-namun frowned.</p><p>“Imhotep,” she breathed as she turned back to him. Still confused and surprised to find her beloved before her once more, whole and unharmed, she reached out and caressed his face. Feeling the familiar curve of his smile and the warmth of his cheek beneath her hand helped to steady her, but it was not a feeling which Meela had ever known-</p><p>Behind him, in the far corners of the room, she could see Imhotep’s mummified priests standing ready to serve as an honour guard and protect them from harm, and something in her head tilted as she struggled to impose the image of their mummified bodies atop those of the men she had once known. Her memories swirled in her head, confused and jumbled as she tried to reconcile them with those from her current life. Through it all Imhotep waited patiently, still kneeling beside her as she found her way back to him.</p><p>Before she could find stability in the sands shifting beneath her feet, a voice interrupted them from on high.</p><p>“I found it,” a man yelled as he hoisted the Golden Book of Amun-Ra above his head. His white shirt was covered in sand and dust and he looked somewhat worse for wear, but he was made triumphant and confident by his find - and he looked familiar, but Anck-su-namum couldn’t place her finger on Meela’s memory of him until he called out his sister’s name. “Evy! Evy, I found it!”</p><p>A groan of frustration came from close behind them and Anck-su-namun spun around to find the other people who had been trapped by her beloved’s followers were also there, springing out from their hiding spots behind Hamunaptra’s columns. They skidded on the sandy floor in their rush and Anck-su-namun found herself lost in memories again, the dust and decay of the altar room suddenly strange and unfamiliar to her.</p><p>It was Imhotep yelling his rage that brought her back to herself. Suddenly furious as well, she scrambled for a weapon. Their mummified guard was too far away, and the strangers were rushing towards them - no, towards her beloved, and before she could lay her hands on a blade. Anck-su-namun cried out in horror-</p><p>-but history did not repeat itself.</p><p>The woman, Evy - or perhaps it was Nefertiti, Anck-su-namun realised distantly as her head began to ache - reached for something in Imhotep’s robes. Anck-su-namun snarled as she finally found the familiar ceremonial long blades Imhotep had laid out for her before they had begun the memory ritual; Seti’s daughter could not be allowed to separate them again. But Evy only shoved past Imhotep and continued running away at full speed while the pale, shaggy-haired man, the adventurer with his sword, began to engage her beloved Imhotep in battle.</p><p>Quickly, Anck-su-namun rushed to Imhotep’s side and together they beat him back, cornering him against one of the columns he had been hiding behind. They shared a triumphant look as Imhotep called out a command, sending his priests marching for the stairs. Imhotep reached for the man’s throat and hoisted him in the air, his face elongating. It was Rick O’Connell, Anck-su-namun realised as her memories finally came together with a snap, and she recalled the modern day priest in his red robes explaining who it was that sought to thwart them and might lead be able to lead her to her beloved’s side.</p><p>Evy’s voice rang out before Anck-su-namun's beloved could suck their enemy dry. Her words echoed down the stairs and off the walls as she read from the book.</p><p>They tried to flee, but this was not something that could be escaped.</p><p>The great clattering of hooves began. Something in Anck-su-namun was frozen, still and dead once more, by the sight of Anubis’ chariot charging down the steps towards them, dragged by the steeds of the dead. Then all too quickly it was over and they could only watch as Imhotep’s image and immortality were snatched up and carried away from them, already lost forever even before it had disappeared from sight.</p><p>Once the chariot was gone, Imhotep snarled and started back towards O’Connell. It was Anck-su-namun’s hand on his arm that stopped him.</p><p>“I do not want to lose you again,” she begged, tightening her grip in desperation when Evy called out her presumption that Imhotep must be mortal once more.</p><p>Their opponents already knew the truth, or at least had guessed at it. There was nothing to be gained from facing them in battle again. No peace to be won, nor Pharaoh to pursue them if they were to flee. Still Imhotep hesitated, anger in every line of his body as he strained against her pull.</p><p>“You were the only one who could resurrect me and you have fulfilled that promise. We have no more need of this place, or those powers,” Anck-su-namun said to Imhotep, before switching to English and moving swiftly in front of him to block any potential attack. “You should leave here while you still can,” she said, pitching her voice so her command would reach all corners of the room.</p><p>Rick hesitated obviously over it being a woman before him now, the reclaimed sword in his hand lowering - but only a little. Clearly he could see the blades she wielded, and did not underestimate them. Anck-su-namun tightened her grip and prepared herself to fight, determined not to lose any advantage.</p><p>“Why should we trust you?” Evy countered from above before she could strike.</p><p>For once, luck was with them. Somewhere in the distance there was a rumble, and then sand began to pour down the walls.</p><p>“Because you have no choice,” Anck-su-namun called back with satisfaction. This time when she reached for Imhotep, he did not resist her; together, they retreated quickly.</p><p>Imhotep took the lead, taking them confidently through the complex with all its twists and turns that he had navigated thousands of years ago to try and save her. Occasionally they heard voices as the others also raced for an exit, but each time Imhotep guided her away from them and towards a shorter route, remembering his way through Hamunaptra far better than Anck-su-namun had ever known it.</p><p>Despite their shortcuts, a figure in black robes emerged on the far side of the complex at the same time as they did. He brandished a sword as he started towards them, but still Anck-su-namun urged Imhotep on; she could not read the markings on his face from a distance but she feared she knew what they might mean all the same. They both stumbled in the sand in their rush, tripping when the ground began to shake and split beneath them. Anck-su-namun keenly felt eyes on them with every slip, and the yearning threat the city beneath them posed with every rumble.</p><p>She had meant what she said - they had no true need for Imhotep’s curse, and she was not sad to see it lost - but as they raced against Hamunaptra’s collapse and to keep ahead of the man chasing them, she found herself wishing they could travel just once more in her beloved’s sandstorm instead of on their fallible human feet.</p><p>Luck was still with them though, and they reached the beasts of burden first. Imhotep grabbed the reins of the largest, strongest looking camel, and was almost frantic in his rush to pull Anck-su-namun up behind him as quickly as possible. Then they were away, finally moving too swiftly to be easily caught.</p><p>Anck-su-namun clung to Imhotep as he yelled and lashed the reins, encouraging the animal to go faster. Looking back, she found the robed figure still watching them. He seemed thoughtful instead of angry as he reached the camels and sheathed his sword, resting a hand on one of the remaining camels as if he were considering mounting it to follow them. Before he could, Hamunaptra exploded dramatically into flurries of sand and rock - just as the tiny figures of Evy and her companions appeared, barely making it free from the perimeter of the collapse in time, and his attention was drawn away by them.</p><p>Their camel bellowed in fear at the noise but did not slow. Faithfully it bore them over the dunes, until what was left of the city finally disappeared from Anck-su-namun’s sight.</p><p>*</p><p>It was a long ride before they reached the Nile. They slowed down once they were sure they were not being followed, allowing the beast to choose its own pace so they might safely reach the edge of the sands before it reached the end of its stamina.</p><p>Both of them watched the movement of the sun carefully and regularly re-adjusted their heading, suddenly more aware than they’d ever been before of their mortal flesh under the desert’s beating sun. Dusk had begun before they found the water’s edge and began to follow the banks of the Nile. When they finally reached a town, Anck-su-namun marvelled at the brightness of its lights in a way she did not recall doing as Meela.</p><p>“I cannot protect you now,” Imhotep said solemnly when he helped her dismount from the camel.</p><p>Anck-su-namun leant forward against his chest, relishing the feel of him and waiting for him to wrap his arms around her waist before she answered. “Thanks to you, I now remember both of my lives,” she said. Leaning back to look at him, she gazed deep into his eyes and searched for understanding in them. “Perhaps it is again my turn to protect you.”</p><p>The sadness on Imhotep’s face eased a little. “Perhaps.”</p><p>Despite the hour, the town was large and still bustling as people hurried to finish their day’s business. Anck-su-namun looked around them in wonder as they passed through the busy market.</p><p>“It is different, and yet not so different,” she said as they passed a stall where two people were haggling over a length of cloth. “Everything seems strange. I remember now how it was <em>and</em> how it is, and nothing seems right.”</p><p>Imhotep chuckled and she turned back to him with a smile, letting her gaze linger on his face. Seeing his happiness made her heart sing for him, and the familiar lines of his face begged again for her touch.</p><p>Someone in the crowd bumped her elbow before she could reach out. Startled, Anck-su-namun ducked her head and averted her eyes, until Imhotep’s fingers on her chin gently raised her head back up again.</p><p>“We have nothing to fear,” he said gently as Anck-su-namun leaned into his hand, relieved by the return of his confidence. Carefully, he steered her away from the crowd into a quieter alleyway. “No one here will take you from me simply for looking at me.”</p><p>“We are finally free,” she agreed in wonder.</p><p>A passerby looked at them curiously as they spoke, seemingly puzzled by the language of their words. Nobody paid particular mind to their affection when he bent his head to kiss her though, just as Imhotep had said; and Anck-su-namun, finally, could give herself over to him wholeheartedly.</p>
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